One of Europe’s largest tech investment banks has revealed a list of North East digital companies with the potential to become $1bn businesses.

As it calls for entries into its best known annual event, the Northern Tech Awards, GP Bullhound has named nine companies from the region as North East ‘foals’ - tech businesses that ultimately have the capacity to grow into so-called ‘unicorns’.

The organisation, which is known as a leader in the sector, publishes several pieces of research each year, including the influential European Unicorns report.

It believes the tech companies with the most obvious major growth potential currently are:

Sale Cycle, which helps marketers reconnect with their customers online;

Sunderland’s online bingo firm Tombola;

Gateshead’s Zerolight, which uses games technology to power virtual 3D showrooms for car manufacturers;

e-commerce firm Visualsoft; and

Newcastle software company Scott Logic.

GP Bullhound co-founder and managing partner Hugh Campbell said: “We see international opportunities for these businesses. To me, it’s very difficult to be successful unless you are thinking globally, so international ambition and success is a key factor for us.

“For example, Zerolight has secured a global rollout of its technology with Audi.

“And Performance Horizon Group is a crucial affiliate software provider for Apple.”

As to why it would be beneficial for the region to have more unicorns within the tech scene, he added: “In my view, building businesses is aspirational in a way and you need role models who have already been successful.

“It’s tough building a business from scratch and people will tell you you’re crazy.

“So if you have mentors or case studies from the region about people who have done it, that can be a very helpful thing.

“Those unicorns also tend to hire and train a lot of people.”

Research from GP Bullhound currently paints a positive picture of the North East tech scene as a whole.

Aside from Sage Group, which was responsible for 90% of the region’s £1.7bn collective tech turnover, there were three further listed tech companies, Zytronic, Stadium Group and Vianet, and at least 199 tech firms in total.

Particular strengths included business software and digital media.

Mr Campbell, however, said: “The challenge facing the North East is to move from a culture of start-ups and scale-ups to a larger number of more valuable businesses.

“One way of doing that, from a local government and funding perspective, is to change the thinking about support for business.

“Rather than helping just companies in the early stages of growth, perhaps they should be helping companies move from 20 to 200 employees, or from 50 to 1,000 employees.

“I think there is a lot of wastage, simply because they are being driven by the wrong metrics.

“Startups are hungry for investment, but it’s about balance.

“That’s why we created the Northern Tech Awards - not to bring together a group of startups but of established tech businesses, in order to make sure they know other.

“The entry level to the awards is that the companies involved had revenues of at least £1m in 2013.”

The event, which is now in its third year, will take place at The Titanic Hotel in Liverpool on March 23, and will recognise the top 50 fastest growing tech companies in region.

The next British tech unicorns will also be identified and the 10 winners of Tech North’s Northern Stars competition - including Teesside’s Evaluagent, Sunderland’s Geek Talent and Newcastle’s Leaf.fm - will be acknowledged as early stage tech companies to watch.

Mr Campbell said: “It would be very shortsighted of us as a community if we did not recognise how quickly these businesses have grown.

“Just because they didn’t have a £1m turnover in 2013, doesn’t mean they couldn’t be a £10m business within a few years. Look at what Uber has done.

“This is also a vehicle for a small number of really fantastic startups to join the group.”

He added that this year’s judging panel including a host of well-known names, including Wired editor David Rown and former-Tesco-CEO-now-private investor Terry Leahy.

Previous winners had likewise found the experience valuable in terms of their marketing.

Last year, Palringo was named Fastest Growing Company, while Performance Horizon Group won the Overall Judges’ Award.

Tim Rea, CEO of Palringo, said: “We were delighted to awarded the Fastest Growing Company at the Northern Tech Awards last year.

“It was an honour to receive such a prestigious accolade out of a crop of very talented Northern tech firms. The award has opened doors for our company and fast-tracked our growth trajectory.”

GP Bullhound was established in London in 1999 and today has offices in San Francisco, Stockholm, Berlin and Manchester.

As well as investing in tech businesses, the company provides independent strategic advice on mergers and acquisition and private placements to entrepreneurs, companies and investors.

The Northern Tech Awards are organised on a not-for-profit basis, with support from a range of businesses and organisations.